Posts Tagged With: Asmodeus

Also known as deimaviggas, armored in the ceremonial garb of some grim knight, this figure stands unnaturally still, though the intricate metalwork patterns of its sculpted mantle writhe and shift as if alive. Claws the length of longswords extend from its armored fingers in razor-sharp fans, and no head or helm rests upon its ironclad shoulders. Instead, there hovers only a plain mask, an unnatural facade devoid of all empathy, emotion, or mercy. The words of deimaviggas are poison to the mind. Regal, fearsome, and unfeeling, deimaviggas seek to turn the faithful from their gods, using cold logic to proselytize the path of atheism, the freedom of the mortal spirit, and the order offered by Hell. Their slowly ever-shifting masks speak envenomed words and imply the hollow nature of their lies. Speaking out against all deities except for Asmodeus, whom they subtly tout as a bringer of discipline even as they downplay his divinity—these deadly intellectuals know that those who turn from their deities are more likely to succumb to the temptations of their diabolical brethren. Rather than attempting to sway the souls of individual mortals, these cunning fiends take on the roles of prophets of reason, disguising themselves beneath layers of illusion to evangelize the virtues and freedoms of lives unshackled from demanding deities. Occasionally one might focus its arguments on a soul of particular piety, delighting in throwing deities’ most devoted servants into endless crises of faith. Deimaviggas care little for what gods their depredations affect, disenfranchising the worshipers of the divine and the profane alike. In their natural shapes, deimaviggas stand 7 feet tall and weigh a mere 120 pounds. When disguised, though, they typically take the forms of wise old men, priests who have “realized their folly,” and even “angels” of truth. Deimaviggas prefer to spend their time upon the Material plane, swaying the weak and corruptible souls of mortals. There they seek out either vast mortal cities, where their heresy might reach many ears, or small communities where the isolated might fall to their blasphemous philosophizing. When in Hell, though, they linger in Caina, tormenting the souls of those trapped upon its lonely islands, developing and testing complicated and often confusing arguments. Preferring to operate alone, these poison-tongued devils rarely work with others of their kind, even though their status as greater devils affords them great control over their lesser brethren. They find their arguments benefit from simplicity, their endeavors complicated by even the most obedient minions. Pit fiends and infernal dukes sometimes utilize deimaviggas as spies and spreaders of dissension and confusion, though even among devilkind these enigmatic fiends are considered strange and unnerving.

Tieflings are human-based planetouched, native outsiders that are infused with the touch of the fiendish planes, most often through descent from fiends — demons, devils, evil deities, and others who have bred with humans. Tieflings are known for their cunning and personal allure, which makes them excellent deceivers as well as inspiring leaders when prejudices are laid aside.Although their evil ancestors may be many generations removed, the taint lingers. Unlike half-fiends, tieflings are not predisposed to evil alignments and vary in alignment nearly as widely as full humans, though tieflings are certainly devious. The celestial counterparts of tieflings are called aasimar.

Tieflings tend to have an unsettling air about them, and most people are uncomfortable around them, whether they are aware of the tiefling’s unsavory ancestry or not. While some look like normal humans, most retain physical characteristics derived from their ancestor, with the most common such features being horns, non-prehensile tails, and pointed teeth. Some tieflings also have eyes that are solid orbs of black, red, white, silver, or gold, while others have eyes more similar to those of humans.Other, more unusual characteristics include a sulfurous odor, cloven feet, or a general aura of discomfort they leave on others. Tiefling skin is usually human-like in color, though extending past normal human colors into reddish hues as well. Tiefling hair is often the same color as human hair as well, though dark blue, red, or purple are also common shades among the race. Tieflings who have striking inhuman features are often killed at birth by their horrified parent or others. Only those tieflings with subdued features or born to someone indifferent to their appearance, either out of acceptance or cruel purpose, are likely to reach adulthood. Diabolic or demonic tieflings might, besides the common horns and tails, possess a forked tongue, leathery or scaly skin, the smell of brimstone, or unusually warm flesh. Some accounts even hold these tieflings to cast neither shadows nor reflections. Some diabolic tieflings also sport goat-like legs or hooves.

Tieflings have a number of abilities gifted to them by their fiendish heritage. By and large, tieflings are alluring and intelligent creatures, with a seductive aura in spite of their obviously evil ancestry. To a large degree tieflings are more capable of guile than a great number of races, but these are not their dominant qualities. Tieflings also have an innate resistance to heat and have a hint of bloodlust which gives them a slight edge in combat.

Most tieflings are aware at an early age that they’re different from others around them, and are given to strange urges and desires because of their unusual ancestry. Few tieflings are raised with the love a normal human child might expect to receive and this shapes most of the race into bitter individuals who expect eventual rejection from all whom they meet. While some might follow this path towards evil, others reject it wholeheartedly and seek to make a good impact on the world around them, sometimes becoming the most heroic characters of all. Few can maintain this discipline however, and most tieflings fall somewhere between both extremes.

Tieflings, who are proud of their fiendish past, are often fascinated by the dark and sinister events that touch the world, but are not necessarily evil or inclined to perpetuate them. Some tieflings of this type choose to use their knowledge of evil and their own fiendish abilities to thwart these dark plots and schemes. Others seek to learn more and to emulate these evil deeds.

Those tieflings who seek out power through arcane magic are most often warlocks. Tiefling arcanists of all kinds, however, feel a draw towards the fiendish energies of the planes and tiefling wizards commonly specialize as diviners for the purpose of seeking knowledge of the Lower Planes or as conjurers so that they might summon the dark spirits whom they call kin.

Those tieflings who are religious are a varied lot, since no god holds more sway over tieflings than any other, though Asmodeus, as the lord over the fiendish race of devils, may come close. Gargauth also drew a large number of worshipers seeking vengeance, as did Mask, who gathered tiefling thieves to his church. Shar, like Gargauth appeals to those with a taste for vengeance.

Tieflings can be found througout Esperia but more common in the Outer planes.

Asmodeus, the King of the Nine Hells and Lord of the Ninth, is at the very least an archdevil, but he may possess the power of a true deity. He resides in Malsheem, located on the lowest layer of Hell, Nessus. He is rarely ever seen, and only when the elite of the Nine Hells gather in any one of a hundred different audience chambers does Asmodeus make his presence known, usually in the form of an unprepossessing humanoid thirteen feet tall with black hair, dark skin, a black goatee, and eyes of flame. According to the Pact Primeval legend, Asmodeus was once the greatest of the angels, who were servants of the primal deities of law, created to combat demons in the age before ages. As the battle went on, Asmodeus and his company grew ever more poisoned by their combat against the infinite hordes of the Abyss. The deities grew restless at seeing him and his tainted companions, but could not find clauses in their laws that would allow them to cast him out. Further, they were distressed that mortals were choosing to disobey law, choosing the so-called liberty dangled to them by demons, rather than adhering to the dictates of the gods of law. Asmodeus, seeing the predicament, proposed that the gods establish punishment and retribution, as a way to giving consequence to mortals who chose not to follow law. Asmodeus’s masters agreed, and assigned him and his brood to administer the punishment. So as to spare them the sight of mortal souls being eternally tortured and made to suffer, Asmodeus chose the (apparently empty) plane of Hell as the site for his new Hells, and demanded that he and his dark company be allowed to harvest energy from the souls they punished for their sins, or they would have to be made gods themselves to have the strength to manage the task. Thus the “Pact Primeval” was signed, and the baatezu–devils–were created. Curiously though, the legend of the Pact Primeval uniformly fails to mention earlier inhabitants of Hell, the so-called Ancient Baatorians. Yet the myth admits that Hell, or some previous version of the plane, was already extant when Asmodeus and his brood arrived to turn it to their use. As undisputed master of the Nine Hells, Asmodeus commands fear and respect from all who occupy his realm, even evil deities. Working constantly to expand evil law, Asmodeus directly opposes celestials and goodly deities, his minions fighting the agents of good, murdering them whenever and wherever they can. Asmodeus also works to contain, and eventually destroy, the chaos of demons and the infinite Abyss. As long as they exist, he will never achieve his eventual goal of ruling the multiverse unopposed. Asmodeus‘ parting from his plane of origin was not peaceful, following the signing of the Pact Primeval. Physically cast from there, Asmodeus fell and fell, wounded to within an inch of his life from his crashes. His wounds still bleed today, every drop of blood forming a new pit fiend, fanatically loyal to the Lord of the Ninth. These pit fiends patrol the canyon of Serpent’s Coil, viciously attacking any interlopers. The Lord of the Ninth is so powerful that within Hell he can work almost any magic as an act of will, reaching into the realms of the other archdukes and reshaping their domains (or the archdukes themselves) with but a thought. Asmodeus emits an aura of submission so powerful that nearly any creature in proximity to him feel overwhelming compulsions to bow before him and submit to any and all of his commands without question. It takes a supreme act of will merely to resist.

Asmodeus is never without his Ruby Rod, an artifact as old as time itself and symbol of office for the ruler of Nessus, and of Hell. A 4-foot shaft of solid ruby, the ruby rod was crafted from a single ruby of incredible size, bathed in the blood of a thousand mortal sacrifices, quenched in the acid drool of Tiamat, and polished with the tears of 777 angels. The rod itself functions as a weapon of epic power, delivering streams of vitriol, crackling death, or frigid wind. Its majesty often leaves creatures staring helplessly at it, and its magic can save its wielder from even the most grievous harm or ailment. Asmodeus has recently achieved a long-standing goal of strengthening further his grip on the Hells, through the taming and elevation of his daughter Glasya. With this additional power, Asmodeus intends to harvest additional divine power with which to speed the healing of his wounds. Once the wounds are healed, Asmodeus plans to strike a temporary truce with the demons, pausing the Blood War just long enough to begin an apocalyptic final struggle between Good and Evil. Following his victory, he will resume his annihilation of demonkind and take his rightful place as ruler of all things. Nessus is the ninth and deepest layer of Hell. It is a place of pits and ravines of virtually endless depths. The great citadel of Malsheem lies immediately below the portal between Cania and Nessus and is the largest fortress in all of the Outer Planes. Here, Asmodeus rules over the entire plane, and thus the entire race of devils. It is a plain shattered by rifts deeper than the deepest ocean trench. Many of the ravines and canyons here reach thousands of miles into undifferentiated, dead stone. Most of the trenches seem natural, but some appear as if they were cut or blasted into the land. Rumor has it that an offshoot of the River Styx flows here and there, dropping into trenches and trickling its way across the layer. Few know how to reach this tributary, if it exists at all. A rift of incredible depth and width lies immediately below the layer boundary between Cania and Nessus. Malsheem, the Citadel of Hell, rises in its dark, elegant, fiendish beauty from the trench. From here, the Overlord of Hell, Asmodeus, rules the plane of Hell. Asmodeus runs a large group of troops and dukes they are as follows:

Adramalech — Chancellor of Hell, Keeper of Records

Alastor the Grim, pit fiend — Executioner

Baalberith, pit fiend — Major domo

Bensozia — Consort of Asmodeus, Queen of Hell (Deceased)

Buer — 15 companies of pit fiends

Buer— 30 companies of horned devils

Glasya – Daughter of Asmodeus and Bensozia, former Mistress of the Erinyes, now Lady of the Sixth

The many gorges of the layer are like massive windy rivers of hate. Many are hundreds of feet deep and some never end, they go by the following names. The Slaughter Gorge holds the lesser devil lairs and produces the emotions of hate. Hook Fissure is made of sharp crystal rocks. Crevasse of Regret is filled with the emotion of suicide and regret. The Eel is home to massive hellwasp swarms. Sawtooth Gorge is home to the courts under the commnad of Mavisalik a amnizu devil. Spectre Gorge is home of the flowing ghosts. Hell Lip is a dry, thristy and hungry location that many die at. Reaper Canyon is home of instant death. Cravasse of Eternity never ends and there is no bottom.

The Forgotten Lake is the falling point of the River Styx for Hell. It lands in a dropping waterfall of memories that have been lost from the many encounters of the water that were effected by it draining. Illusions of these lost memories flash here at the lake.

Malsheem is the home of the grand palace of Asmodeus himself. Made of flesh, green steel, massive gems and silks this palace is where to find none. Armies of devils are located here and under the command of the great arch devil. The fortress of Nessus is located here and is vacant except for the howling torment of lost souls. Asmodeus can appear here on a thought and he can bring any devil throughout the planes to this location.

Tabjari is home to the great ruby gem that holds the Pack Primeval. This large copper tower is protected so that no evil creature can enter and the gem is so heavy and massive that no creature can lift it.

Malkizid was a powerful fallen solar and former archdevil who resided in the Blood Rift. He was also called “The Branded King“, because of the constantly bleeding wound on his forehead given to him by Corellon Larethian.

Malkizid was a high solar in the service of the Seldarine. Around -30,000 DR, he was seduced into betraying Corellon by Araushnee (Lolth), but was cast into the Nine Hells and branded for his betrayal when Araushnee‘s rebellion failed. There he quickly rose in the hierarchy of the Hells and soon controlled his own dominion.

At some point, thousands of years ago, Malkizid earned the disfavor of Asmodeus and was then exiled from Nine Hells. A small host of devils followed Malkizid where he setup his infernal realm in the Blood Rift, the native plane of yugoloths. He was a yugoloth lord and archdevil in exile, and therefore had devils and yugoloth minions.

Malkizid appeared as a nearly 10 foot tall humanoid with marble white skin, a pair of huge wings that shed shabby gray feathers, and a long serpentine tail. His hands and feet were gray with bird-like talons. Two black horns curled from the sides of his head, and a long mane of hair fell down his back. Malkizid‘s humanoid face could have been considered handsome, except for the cold black pits that were his eyes and the large mark that was been branded on his forehead that trickled a seep of foul blood.

Malkizid was clever, hateful, and patient. He absolutely despised Lolth (and her drow), whom he blamed for his fall from grace thousands of years ago. He hated, but also feared, Corellon, because he thought that Corellon could have shown him mercy, but instead expelled him from Arvandor into the Nine Hells.

Since both Lolth and Corellon were beyond his power, he took his vengeance out on their mortal followers. For thousands of years, Malkizid was subtly the cause of many troubles for the elves of realms.

It was speculated that Malkizid sought to create divisions within the drow by encouraging independent thought, and at the same time prompting the drow into conflict with surface elves.

Lord of the Sixth, Glasya is a Princess of the Nine Hells. She is noted as one of the most powerful and influential of the female devils and for being the daughter of Asmodeus. Adorned in priceless jewelry, silks, and other finery, this humanlike creature is the vision of beauty—except for her copper skin, wings, forked tail, and horns that betray her true nature. Glasya is a minor patron of corruption, growth, and agony. She has a small following of priests and cultists.

Glasya was once Mammon‘s favoured consort. However, this relationship changed when Mammon sided against Asmodeus in the Reckoning. Mammon slunk back to the Lord of Hell and Glasya was taken from him and appointed Queen of the erinyes, a position she absolutely despised. Since becoming Lord of the Sixth, Glasya has had a thriving friendship with Fierna, which frightens Belial as his ‘loving’ daughter may believe she no longer has any use for her manipulative father.

Up until very recently, Malbolge was a layer tilted, a place of sliding scree and tumbling rock, its eternal slope nearly impossible to navigate. The pitch suited the unlikely Lord, the Hag Countess. She was unlike any other, not being devil, nor even a devil for that matter. But her time has passed and now Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus, reigns as Duchess of the Sixth.

Glasya, unlike Bel, did not take the layer by force of arms. The Hag Countess, former ruler of Malbolge, was obsessed with gaining true divinity. After her attempted apotheosis went terribly wrong, the Hag began to grow and grow all at an uncontrollable rate. Her growth caused the layer to level as her bloated form encompassed her entire domain, effectively destroying the countess and ending her reign. With the Hag Countess no longer a concern, Glasya arrived on a palanquin carried by a multitude of lesser devils and took control of Malbolge. To decorate her new home, Glasya used the best materials at hand: the Hag Countess herself. Now that Glasya has risen to the rank of archdevil, she has incredible power and influence. The other Lords fear her, suspecting the move as a bid to consolidate Asmodeus’s control over the Nine Hells. But Glasya has plots and plans of her own. She detests Levistus and wants revenge for her mother’s death. Glasya employs paeliryons to monitor her nemesis’s actions and gather some proof to gain her father’s approval to destroy the archdevil for good. Before ascending to become the new Lord of the Sixth, Glasya traveled to the Prime Material Plane to establish several cults. Most of her followers are inexperienced, young, and very naive. Glasya recruits young adults, full of life and vigor, curious and willing to experiment. For now, it is their duty to recruit new members, but they suspect something new is imminent and wait with bated breath to receive their next instructions.